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I couldn't help but reference the film's original title. They should've kept it.

Charlie's (Shia LaBeouf) mother (Melissa Leo) has just passed away. Charlie feels lost and has a vision of his mother after she dies. She tells him to go to Bucharest, Romania. He does just that, when a man he's sitting next to on the plane dies, he has another vision to meet the man's daughter. He also does just that, he meets Gabi (Evan Rachel Wood) a beautiful and now heartbroken cello player. He's drawn to her immediately, but her ex husband Nigel (Mads Mikkelsen) is still in the picture and he is a dangerous man.

The thing that sticks out the most in this film is the music, it's absolutely beautiful. It fits with the fast scenes and free spirits that Charlie and Gabi so obviously have. It can be brutal at times, but it never feels over the top. The cast is great. Rupert Grint has a small role as an aspiring porn star Charlie meets in a hostel that's definitely amusing. Shia, well, I get that people hate him. I've never been one of those people. I've always thought he was alluring on screen, and there's no exception here. I think this might be one of his best features. Evan Rachel Wood was great as well. I can't tell you if her Romanian accent was convincing or not. I'm not familiar with them. It seemed like a decent Eastern European accent. Mads was interesting too. He's dangerous, but at times very amusing.

And don't worry, Charlie's mother does eventually explain why she picked Bucharest. That was kind of getting on my nerves because it's not addressed until the end.

Best Picture"American Hustle""Captain Phillips""Dallas Buyers Club""Gravity""Her""Nebraska""Philomena""12 Years A Slave""The Wolf of Wall Street"Who will win and should win: 12 Years A Slave.Sure, I technically liked Her, Wolf, and Hustle better than 12 years, but I can appreciate a well made film with an all around incredible cast that brought a lot to the table. I see it winning here.Best Actor in a Leading RoleChristian Bale, "American Hustle"Bruce Dern, "Nebraska"Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Wolf of Wall Street"Chiwetel Ejiofor, "12 Years A Slave"Matthew McConaughey, "Dallas Buyers Club"Who will win: Matthew McConaugheyWho should win: Leonardo DiCaprioI'm not going to be mad when Matthew wins, but I really think Leo deserves this one. It's easily one of his best performances to date, plus McConaughey is going to get a ton of love at the Emmys next year for True Detective. Let Leo have this one.Best Actress in a Leading RoleAmy Adams, "American Hustle"Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine"Sandra Bullock, "Gravity"Judi Dench, "Philomena"Meryl Streep, "August: Osage County"Who will win: Cate BlanchettWho should win: Amy AdamsCate was great in a rather lack-luster film, and Amy was great in a great film. Sure Cate's character had more to her, but I still love Adams the most.Best Actor in a Supporting RoleBarkhad Abdi, "Captain Phillips"Bradley Cooper, "American Hustle"Michael Fassbender, "12 Years A Slave"Jonah Hill, "The Wolf of Wall Street"Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club"Who will and should win: Jared Leto has this in the bag, but I would not be upset if any of these men took home the big award. Not at all.

Best Actress in a Supporting RoleSally Hawkins, "Blue Jasmine"Jennifer Lawrence, "American Hustle"Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years A Slave"Julia Roberts, "August: Osage County"June Squibb, "NebraskaWho will and should win: Lupita Nyong'o. Part of me is still afraid that they will give this to Jennifer Lawrence, but I'm going to take the big leap to say that the Academy will get it right.

Hear me out. Gravity was visually stunning, but it was digital. Gravity is beautiful because of a computer, where as Prisoners was beautiful because the cinematographer made it so. He made Atlanta, GA look exactly like Pennsylvania. I go back and forth on the cinematography award all of the time. As beautiful as Gravity was, I can't get behind it fully on a cinematography stand point..

Best Production Design

"American Hustle""Gravity""The Great Gatsby""Her""12 Years A Slave"

Who will win: American Hustle

Who should win: Her

Best Costume Design

"American Hustle""The Grandmaster""The Great Gatsby""The Invisible Woman""12 Years A Slave"

Who will and should win: American Hustle

Best Makeup

"Dallas Buyers Club""Jackass: Bad Grandpa""The Lone Ranger"

Who will and should win: Dallas Buyers Club

Best Sound Editing

"All Is Lost""Captain Phillips""Gravity""The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug""Lone Survivor"

M. Brown over at Two Dollar Cinema is hosting his first ever blogathon. Since I'm constantly laughing at everything M posts over on his site, I felt it would only be right if I chose my Mt. Rushmore of movies (and tv) as something that amuses me.

Behold: The Mount Rushmore of Awful Cry Faces

(If you're on this site looking for good graphics, I suggest you get your ass over to Cinematic Corner. Ain't nobody got talent for that here at Rambling Film.)

James Van Der Beek

James Van Der Beek probably has the most popular cry face in the world. How many have you have seen this gif without actually watching Dawson's Creek?

Norman Reedus

Sometimes I wonder if The Walking Dead's main purpose on TV is for the internet to create memes out of it. Lo and behold Norman Reedus' awful cry face. This thing shows up on every Walking Dead site out there and NO ONE thinks it looks good.

Claire Danes

I could honestly put together a play by play of cry faces from Homeland alone, but since M. DID ask for this to be from movies, and I already cheated, I went with Romeo and Juliet. This cry face just screams "Oh! I'm a stupid 14 year old that doesn't know how to have an affair AND I WILL DIE FOR ALL THE LOVE!" *vomits*

Daniel Radcliffe

"He doesn't look like he's crying in that picture." You might say. EXACTLY! This was one of the worst attempts at crying/anger I have ever seen. How Cuaron actually let this in the final cut is beyond me. It was fucking awful, and I'm one of the biggest Harry Potter fans around. Daniel Radcliffe has thankfully improved, and I guess he'll always have Prisoner of Azkaban to remind him how much higher he's climbed on the cry face ladder.

Andrew over at Encore's World of Film and TV is bringing back his popular blogathon Motifs in Cinema He's chosen 13 motifs and ask that we pick one and use at least 4 films. I picked Reality vs Fantasy. Last year I chose Appreciation of Life. Thanks for hosting this again, Andrew! I hope this isn't too much of a jumbled mess.Motifs in Cinema is a discourse across film blogs, assessing the way in which various thematic elements have been used in the 2013 cinematic landscape. How does a common theme vary in use from a comedy or drama? Are filmmakers work from a similar canvas when they asses the issue of death or the dynamic of revenge? Like most things, a film begins with an idea - Motifs in Cinema accesses how various themes emanating from a single idea change when utilized by varying artists.

1) Her

Falling in love with someone that isn't "real"

I don't think there was a film that captured 'realty vs fantasy' in 2013 better than Her. You have Theodore, who falls in love with his operating system, Samantha. It's pure fantasy. He can't hold her, can't "see" her. He only hears her voice. The interesting thing about Her is that I don't think it's too far fetched. So many of us are addicted to technology. I enjoy talking about movies with my online friends more so than I do my actual friends. (How's that for sounding like a film snob?) Living that sort of life online, almost like Theo was living through his relationship with Samantha is easy. It's easy to get wrapped up in your fantasy, and I think Her did a good job of showing that it can actually be beautiful and therapeutic, and not toxic or dangerous like most people would say. Though it can be those things too, but I like Her's version better.2) The Wolf of Wall Street

What do you mean I can't live my life as an insufferable douche without consequences?

Oh, Jordan Belfort. The life you were living really was a fantasy. You were screwing people over, snorting way too much coke, and making too many awful decisions before you got the ultimate reality check in jail time. Lavish lifestyles like that always seem like a fantasy to me.3) The Bling Ring

We just wanted to be like them.

These girls loved the way their favorite celebrities dressed. They wanted to mimic that fantasy life so badly that they actually committed burglary against them. They stole their clothes, shoes, and jewelry and wore them to bring even more attention to themselves. The Bling Ring offers interesting commentary on how celebrities can really affect the lives of some people who dream of being them. The reality for these crimes? You got it. Jail time! Congratulations, you have won a pair of Bebe shoes. 4) The Lifeguard

When I first picked this topic, this film came to mind right away. Leigh is a semi successful 30 year old living in NYC, but she's not happy. So she goes back home to her parent's house, to her old job as a lifeguard, and tries to reclaim her old life. Her quarter-life crisis is a fantasy in itself. Especially when she thinks it's okay to start a relationship with a minor. Luckily for her, the reality of that situation could've been much, much worse.5) Trance

What just happened?

Trance really blurs the lines between fantasy and reality. Simon using hypnotherapist Elizabeth to help him find out what he did with a valuable painting is a very significant step. How can you fully trust something like this? What if you're being fed lies instead of remembering what actually happened? Trance had so many twists and turns that you could easily lose track, but that's also what makes the reality vs fantasy element in this movie so interesting.

It was middle finger night on The Walking Dead/True Detective last night.

The Walking Dead - episode 4.11: Claimed

Still in the annoying bottle format, this episode focuses on two groups. Rick's and Glenn's. Let's start with the latter.

We see the newly introduced Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene driving off in their truck with Tara and a passed out Glenn in the back. Tara is doing one of the smartest things I've seen someone do on this show in a long time, and is writing down the directions from where they came. Note the big "BUS" on her hand. Glenn finally wakes up and demands that they stop the truck so he can leave and search for Maggie. Abe drops that bomb that Eugene knows what started the apocalypse and they are on their way to Washington D.C to fix it. Glenn doesn't care, he just wants his wife. Abe tries to tell Glenn that she's probably dead, which Glenn responds to by punching Abe in the face. (I love Glenn)

Abraham ain't got time for that, so he jumps on Glenn and they began to beat the holy hell out of each other. While doing this, a heard of walkers shows up, and Eugene starting firing at them. (and the truck) While they all stop fighting and come together to take out the walkers, they're not going anywhere in that truck anymore. Abe questions Eugene on how he could possibly take out the truck ("son of a DICK!") when he had scene stronger things in the war that didn't. Eugene replies as if he were a robot that he's just ignorant with weapons. Rosita decides that since they don't have anything else to do, they'll follow Glenn and Tara on their search for Maggie.

Back to Rick, Carl and Michonne's group. Carl and Michonne are having breakfast. She makes him laugh when she wishes they had soy milk, which gets him into an old story about a friend that had to drink it. He mentions Judith's name, then clams up and walks away. This scene was really sweet, but Chandler Riggs' awful delivery was a tad distracting.

Rick thanks Michonne for making Carl laugh, and says he can't be his father and his best friend, so he needs her. He apologizes if that's a lot to throw at her, to which she responds "I'm done taking breaks." I hope this made Rick realize that too. Like Carol said, "You can be a farmer Rick, but you can't just be a farmer." Michonne and Carl go out on a run and convince Rick to stay and heal up.

On their run, Michonne tries to cheer up Carl, even squeezing a ton of crazy cheese in her mouth. (which is fucking disgusting, ew) Carl isn't having it, Michonne causally mentions that she had a three year old son and he found her hilarious. Carl is flabbergasted and asks a million follow up questions. She says she'll answer them one room at a time, but only after they've cleared the room.

Her son's name was Andre, he died after "everything happen." She's never told anyone else but Carl. She better not tell Rick because he'll think she's cold for not mentioning his name and he'll throw her out. As they're going through the house, Michonne finds the owners and their children all dead in bed in a desperate murder/suicide. She closes the door quickly, and Carl assumes it's a dead baby in the room. "No, a dog." she replies.

Rick falls asleep upstairs and is awoken by men's voices. He quickly grabs his watch off the counter (Well, Carol's watch that she gave him. I loved seeing that by the way) and hides under the bed. Someone eventually lays on top of it. Another enters the room and choke holds the guy in the bed because he wants it for himself. This guy spots Rick under the bed before he passes out. Once Guy #2 is asleep, Rick sneaks out from under the bed and is ready to kill the guy that saw his face, then he ends up hiding in the bathroom, and runs into Guy #3 on the shitter. Rick kills him, opens the door just a tad so when he re-animates, he'll cause some problems, and jumps out the window. Guy #4 is out on the porch, bouncing a ball. Rick see Michonne and Carl approaching, so as he's about to kill this other dude, someone screams in the house and he runs off anyways. Rick runs to Carl and Michonne, and they walk off. The last scene is them finding a sign for Terminus. Remember, that's where Carol and Tyreese and co are heading too.

I'd like to go back to those intruders in the house. I couldn't understand a damn word any of them were saying, but thanks to closed caption and some good listeners, we find out some of the things they are talking about. They're obviously beating a man up at the beginning of their entrance, because we hear him grunt. They talk about finding a woman's shirt (Probably Michonne's) and talk about who's going to have a "turn" with her first. Great, creepy rapers. But the most interesting part is at the end, when they apparently encounter the walker in the house. Someone shouts "stop her, stop her. Kill her. Kill her!" This produces an interesting theory. (This is TWD of course. Where the viewer is expected to fill in all of the blanks) Do they have hostages? More importantly, do they have Beth and/or Daryl as hostages? The next episode's sneak looks like it's solely Beth and Daryl (Ugh) So it's possible these groups are closing than they think.

Rick, Michonne and Carl don't even seem interested in looking for any other survivors from the prison. If they were already "this close" to some of their former family members, how would that make them feel? I said this before, but I liked the focus on Carol's watch in this episode. I hope this gave Rick a much needed reality check on what he did to her. He told her she'd survive, yet he's just had to hide from some awful people that are clearly rapists. He sentenced her to this fate as well.

I'm really, REALLY, hoping that next week's episode isn't only Beth and Daryl, but it looks like it. Daryl doesn't talk, which means Beth will provide most of the dialogue and Emily Kinney cannot carry a scene. This is going to be brutal. Give me Tyreese and Carol's group, please. (Actually, give me all the groups because these bottle episodes are really killing the pacing)

True Detective - episode 1.6: Haunted Houses

*Marty beating up the dudes they caught with his daughter in the rubber gloves was hilarious. I can look past the police brutality this one time.

*Oh look, it's that nice girl that Marty gave money too a few episodes back to make her life better, oh God, now they're fucking...

*Shea Wingham is back! He's drunk, he found kiddie porn, almost got blamed for said kiddie porn and now is a mess.

*I cannot believe Rust told that lady to kill herself. Holy shit!

*Rust goes in to question the little girl he saved from the Meth lab, who now looks suspiciously like Lorde. "The man with the scars was the worst. He made me watch what he did to Billy." When he questions if the scars were on his face, it triggers something and she totally loses it. Interesting. Who have we seen with scars on this show?

*Maggie - let's talk about Maggie. She finds Marty's cell phone and sees that he's still having affairs. She dresses herself up nice and goes to a bar, but doesn't have the courage to go home with a random. So she goes to Rust's house, practically throws herself on him, then after they quickly fuck, Rust's realizes that he's made a terrible mistake, and kicks her out. When Marty gets home, Maggie is sitting alone at the table with a glass of wine. You know this can't be good. She says she knows about his affair, then taunts him when she says she fucked his partner. Marty nearly strangles her until she mentions that she'll tell the girls.

I'm torn here. I had a feeling Maggie is what came between Rust and Marty, but the way this happened has me split. I don't blame Maggie for being so enraged about her husband's affairs that she goes out to see if she can do the same thing. But her picking Cohle for the job? That's cold. But it also is the one thing that would piss Marty off the most. I'm torn, what do you think of her motives? Justified given the situation, or totally bat shit crazy?

*Then Maggie had the lady balls to tell the police Rust and Marty's fight had nothing to do with her.

*Did you see that spear that Marty gave Rust in the parking lot? That was beautiful. That was some Edge in WWE worthy shit right there.

*The episode ended with our friends seeing each other again in present time. They're off to buy each other a beer. Rust also hasn't fixed his tail light in 10 years and apparently has never been pulled over for it either.

Peter (Christopher Denham) and his girlfriend Lorna (Nicole Vicius) are trying to make an undercover documentary on a suspicious cult who's leader,Maggie (Brit Marling) claims to be from the future.

Brit Marling's films have a bit of a trend, their endings are often left open for us to decide what happens next. This film is no exception. We're given hints here and there, but ever full on answers. In a way, it drives me crazy, because just when I think I have a solid theory on what Maggie is really all about, something else throws a wrench in it. But that frustration is what makes this film SO intriguing. I can't stop thinking about it days later.

Christopher Denham is a fascinating actor. He's someone who I hope to see in more films, he's absolutely captivating here. Especially in his scenes with Marling. I know i called this film frustrating, but I mean that in the best way possible. I can't recommend this film enough.

Grade: A

Memorable Quote: "This is not what we discussed." - Peter (Christopher Denham)

Carter (Adam Scott) has been caught up between his parent's (Richard Jenkins and Catherine O'Hara) rough relationship and subsequent divorce all his life. He finally found a middle ground as an adult. When his little brother's engagement happens, Carter has to find a way for them to be civil in the same room, he then learns he was actually a part of a study of the effects divorce has on children by Dr. Judith (Jane Lynch) and that really makes everything worse.

The premise of this was interesting. Technically, I'm an A.C.O.D. I joke about my parent's divorce being (and at times, still) a gigantic pain in the ass, but they are happy and it's all in good fun. I expected this film to feel a little similar, but how does a film with Scott, Jenkins, Lynch, and Amy Poehler end up so drastically unfunny?

'Average' is how I would describe this film. There's nothing special about it. The talent of its cast is wasted, the ending is beyond stupid and unnecessary, there were no laughs. At all. I didn't completely hate it while I was watching it, I just wanted it to be something more, and it never was.

Well, the powers that be said we would "get inside Beth's head" this season and that's exactly how we started out this episode; with Beth narrating an entry in her diary. It was from when they first arrived at the prison, and how she looked forward to making it a home. As her and Daryl dramatically fell in the middle of a field, she says "we can live here for the rest of our lives."

Scene cuts to Beth and Daryl around a fire, and her telling Daryl they should do something, that they can't be the only survivors. I guess these people never thought of a rendezvous point in case they got split up, which I find incredibly stupid considering they had an exit strategy. How do you not think these things through? Anyways, they start to track, they come upon some dead bunnies in a log, blood on some plants, and some dead walkers that were apparently feasting on humans. A close up shot of a little black shoe pretty much confirms it was Luke and Molly (the other two kids with Mika and Lizzie in episode 4.8) that were eaten.

We move on to group # 2, Lizzie, Mika, Tyreese and Judith. I never thought Judith was dead. Sure I read spoiler forums for TWD all of the time, but it clearly looked like Tyreese was carrying her away in the finale, so there was never a sense of "OMG who has Judith?" for me. Lizzie it showing some psychopathic tenancies, with stabbing those baby bunnies (so Beth and Daryl aren't too far behind them) to making that off handed remark about Sasha being dead, to finally, nearly smothering Judith to keep her quiet. Yeah, Lizzie is the rat feeder. As Tyreese went all hammer time to try to save some people being attacked by walkers, we hear someone call his name. It's Carol.

I'm so happy we got her back early in this episode. I was afraid we'd have to wait longer. She's not sure if Tyreese knows what she did, but when he runs up to her to give her a hug, she wisely doesn't mention the fact that Rick kicked her out. I'm sure there will be people who love to demonize Carol that will say "Oh she lied because she's a cold blooded murderer" but let's be real here. She did the right thing. I have no doubt that Carol will come clean to Tyreese, but it's better to do that once the children are somewhere safe and they don't have to worry about fighting out in the open. (Personally, I think Tyreese, and the rest of the group will forgive her. Rick will be the hardest sell)

A dying man tells them to follow the tracks to the 'sanctuary.' They see a map saying anyone who arrives, survives. X marks the spot to the ominous 'Terminus.'

Our next group is Maggie, Sasha, and Bob. Sasha is dressing Bob's wound, and Maggie is too preoccupied to try to set up camp or find food, she wants to find Glenn. Not wanting to split up, the three walk down the road and find the bus full of red shirts. Maggie needs to make sure Glenn isn't among them, after nearly all are dispatched, there's a cheap trick with a black haired walker who's face we don't see. Maggie stabs him, and her crying turns into laughing. Glenn and Beth weren't there. She's good.

Finally, we're back at the prison. Glenn some how ended up on the walk way bridge and passed out. He sees the destruction and realizes he's alone. He heads back to his cell black to grab some supplies. (Including his picture of sleeping Maggie) which he throws into that hitchhiker that Rick ignored last season's backpack. He puts on his riot gear, and on his way out he notices Tara has locked herself behind a fence. He goes to her and realizes she never shot any of her bullets. She's in shock. "I helped cause this." she tells them. Then she mentions she saw her sister Lilly be eaten by walkers after she put down the Governor. Glenn needs her help, and they high tail it out of the prison.

On the road. (They must not be too far behind Maggie, Sasha and Bob) Tara tells Glenn how awful she feels, and how the Governor tricked them and "killed that old man." There you have it, Glenn now knows about Hershel. He says Hershel said they have to have faith, and that is what they are going to do. Stick together and help find Maggie. Glenn, who is still pretty sick passes out from exhaustion. Tara saved him from a walker, and after she's done said walker's skull in, she screams to someone off screen "I hope you enjoyed the show, assholes."

Three people show up. "You got a damn mouth on you, girl, you know that? What else you got?" Yep. That's Sgt Abraham Ford, Eugene, and Rosita. Comic fans just had a nerdgasm.

Overall, I liked this episode better than 4.9, from the previews it looks like we're only going to see Glenn and Rick's group on the next episode. I'm still not a fan of these bottle formats, so hopefully some of the groups meet up soon. I'm psyched Carol is back (though now I suppose I have to accept that she IS the killer, and the writers are really just that bad with character development) Scott Gimple mentioned that the killer and the rat feeder are two different people. Well, I think it's pretty damn obvious that Lizzie is the rat feeder, and my previous predictions were that Carol was either covering for Lizzie or Carl. I don't see that happening now. The writers really missed an interesting story for Carol covering for Carl, in my opinion.

True Detective - episode 1.5: The Secret Fate of Life

*Can we talk about how hilarious it was when Cohle and Hart were totally bullshitting their story to those other detectives? Omg.

*Why didn't Walt and Jesse think of booby trapping the area around their meth lab in season 1? (We know they got kind of lab snobby in the later seasons)

*I screamed 'holy shit!' at my TV when LaDue tripped over that wire and effectively exploded.

*Ha! Creepy Lizzie from The Walking Dead is playing the older version of Hart's younger daughter.

*Can you imagine your own father calling you 'Captain of the Varsity Slut Team?"

*The big reveal at the end of this episode is that the detectives think Cohle is in on the murders all along. I'm not buying it, but it's still bloody interesting.

*I feel like TD twat blocked me a little though, I thought were were going to find out why Cohle and Hart had a falling out. The suspense is killing me!

Game of Thrones released another season 4 trailer that included this shot:

Book readers will know how fucking important this shot is. I'm about to do a back flip over here.

Rhoda (Brit Marling) had everything going for her. She just got accepted into MIT, and she's fascinated with outer space. One night, it is discovered that there is actually another Earth, while listening to a radio broadcast and staring into the sky, Rhoda causes a car accident that will change her life forever.

I first came across Brit Marling in The East, and I've been sold on her ever since. I've had this film and 'Sound of my Voice' in my Netflix queue for awhile, and I was happy to get this. The thing I liked most about this film was the discussions it provokes. Especially when we learn more about Earth 2. (I don't want to spoil it in the review, but feel free to talk about it in the comments)

Sure, a lot of people are annoyed by the "logic" behind this other Earth, and how close it is to Earth in the film. Honestly, it doesn't matter. It could almost be irrelevant in a way. This story is about Rhoda and her relationship with John, (William Mapother) the man who's life she ruined along with her own. I loved the ending because that final scene speaks volumes and really makes you wonder.

Grade: B+

Memorable Quote: "I saw this image when I was a kid. The photograph of Jupiter taken by NASAs Voyager. Beautiful, but nothing special until shown in rapid succession. Suddenly Jupiter was alive, breathing. I was hypnotized."

LAMB #753

About Me

Welcome to my collection of ramblings. I bring you movie reviews, awards coverage, and other things in the wonderful world of film and TV. Most of all, I love talking to fellow movie fans. I'm a bit of a smartass and I probably swear to much. I personally do not use cookies for anything, but the 3rd party widgets on my blog (such as Twitter) do.